David R. Moody  - May 26, 2005 12:07 pm (#10026 Total: 10033)  
Last played: 3 Days of Gettysburg, Wings of War, Old Contemptibles, 
Pirates of the Spanish Main, War of the Ring, Stalingrad Pocket II, 
Ambush, B-17, ASL, Down in Flames. Reading: Eisenhower's Lieutenants 
(Russell Weigley). 	 

A rousing game of War of the Ring last night at Endgame in historic old
Oakland, CA. Joe Oppenheimer and I squared off in what has rapidly
become one of my favorite games. Once again, I was the Free Peoples
player. 

The game unfolded in fairly standard manner, as I sent the Fellowship
through Moria, losing Gandalf to the Balrog (so I could get Gandalf the
White). Joe was fairly successful early on in finding the Fellowship and
sending a Nazgul to harry their progress, so I split it soon after
leaving Moria, sending Strider, Boromir and Legolas down to Gondor so
Strider could become Aragorn (and I got an extra Action die) and they
all could prepare the defense of the White City while Gimili and Pippin
attempted to lead the Fellowship into Lorien (I lost Merry randomly to
satisfy Hunt damage, and never brought him back). 

Meanwhile, Joe brought Saruman on early, cranked out units in Isengard
(which is why you bring on Saruman), and blitzed Rohan. The small force
at the Fords of Isen withdrew to Helm's Deep without a fight (Scouts
card), and Joe pursued. I tried to muster forces at Edoras, and also got
Gandalf the White in Fangorn to send Ents after Orthanc, but Joe's drive
continued (we dubbed it Army Group Rohan) and soon Helm's Deep fell.
That was part of the reason why I sent Aragorn, Boromir, and Legolas to
Minas Tirith--last game I played, I sent them there too late, and there
was no place for Aragorn to declare himself King. 

At any rate, after some wanderings (never let a dwarf try to lead you to
an Elven stronghold), the Fellowship staggered into Lorien to recover,
as Joe turned his attention to completing the conquest of Rohan. I built
up as much of a force as I could at Edoras, and Theoden and Co. made
Saruman's forces pay dearly for their victory, inflicting heavy losses.
They indeed made such an end as to be worthy of remembrance. It was also
a harbinger of things to come. 

So Rohan fell, and the hammer blow would fall on Gondor next. Faramir's
rangers (another event card) harried Sauron's forces as they massed
before Osgiliath, then fought briefly in that city before falling back
to join the defense of Minas Tirith. Denethor sulked around a bit
(another Event card) until Aragon knocked him upside the head. With
Rohan conquered, Gandalf the White joined his companions in the White
City. The Fellowship could not linger long in Lorien; I sent Gimili and
Pippin north to raise the Dwarves and Men of the North while Frodo and
Sam, now with Gollum as guide, set out southwards for Mordor. Play of
Bilbo's Song got them down to 0 Corruption without having to wait too
long in Lorien. 

Then things started to get really wild. I got a second Ent card and,
noticing Joe only had a couple units guarding Saruman, decided to use
Shadowfax to send Gandalf back to Fangorn. Of course, this telegraphed
my intentions to Joe, who built another unit there, putting three units
in Orthanc. I played the Ent card, and my attack proceeded to kill all
three units AND Saruman! It was doubly bad, as Joe had a special card in
play that allowed him to draw extra Event cards when he played one as
long as Saruman was in play. I honestly didn't think it would work, but
it did. So I sent Gandalf up to Lorien to get the Elves ready for war. 

As expected, Sauron's forces assaulted Minas Tirith. I had built all the
Gondor units in the game, so I was just about maxed out at the White
City and thus decided to meet him on the Pelennor Fields. Alas, the lads
seem to fight better behind fortifications, as they took heavy losses
and pulled back into the fortress. There they fought like lions, helped
by the fact I had three 'Sudden Strike' cards which allowed free attacks
by Aragorn, Boromir, and Legolas. The upshot was that Joe's army bled
itself white on the walls of Minas Tirith. Indeed, the fight went so
well I was able to sally forth, counterattack, and (aided by the
Confusion card and a bad roll by Joe) destroy Joe's army AND kill the
Witch King! (I guess Eowyn escaped from Rohan to join the fight at Minas
Tirith--I WISH they'd do an 'I Am No Man!' card in the expansion). 

However, the Fellowship was having problems, as Joe was doing well in
the Hunt. They were up to six Corruption and had gotten as far as the
Dead Marshes. It was then I made the decision to head to Minas Tirith
and heal a couple Corruption points before going into Mordor. As events
unfolded, it was probably a mistake. Joe pushed more units in (Southrons
and Easterlings this time, who mocked the retreating Orcs, then slew
them (another card)) and tried again. And once again, he failed, as his
army was wiped out. 

Unfortunately, so was mine. I was down to one regular Gondor unit in
Minas Tirith, and that after pulling in the garrison of Pelagir between
sieges. I toyed with abandoning Minas Tirith and pulling back to Dol
Amoroth, which had a nice force defending it, but instead decided to
move the forces from there up to reinforce the White City (I did leave a
garrison). They didn't make it in time, as Joe sent in the remnants of
Saruman's army, looting and pillaging Rohan, which took Minas Tirith
from its much reduced garrison. The Dol Amoroth forces quickly scurried
back to defend that place. 

So military, the Shadow forces had had a bad time of it. Rohan had been
conquered, and Minas Tirith taken, but all the other Free Peoples'
strongholds were heavily garrisoned (Gimili had built up a good force in
the Iron Hills, and Elves held Lorien and the Woodland Realm strongly--I
even had a card to send an Elven unit into Dol Amoroth to fully garrison
that place) and the Shadow armies had suffered grevious losses. It would
come down to the Ring Bearer, who was having a bad time of it as well.
Joe had been quite successful in the Hunt, as Frodo, Sam and Gollum
tried to run the gauntlet of enemy troops moving up to Minas Tirith. My
luck ran out, as Joe kept finding them, drawing good Hunt Tiles, and
hitting them with cards that drove corruption up. I was at 11 by the
time I declared in Mordor. 

I had no other choice--I couldn't go back to Minas Tirith or Lorien. I
had to hope the Hunt Tiles would be with me (all four of the good ones
were in) and that I got a card to reduce Corruption. Alas, it was not to
be. I got two spaces into Mordor before Joe hit me with another card
(something nasty) and pushed me to 12 Corruption. Gollum gets the
Precious back, and the Free Peoples, despite the heroic defense of
Gondor, lose the game. 

A glorious and exhausting game. Joe almost conceded after losing both
Saruman and the Witch King, but still rallied to win. You've never out
of it in this game. As for me, I wonder what I have to do to win as the
Free Peoples. Once again, I did well militarily, but lost due to
Corruption. Perhaps I should have just pushed on for Mordor even at 6
Corruption rather than go to Minas Tirith. Oh well--still an awesome
game. 

So I went home, washed the Orc blood off my sword, and went to bed. No
gaming for us next week, but in two weeks, possibly 7 Days of 1809, or
Sun Never Sets (one of the Sudan scenarios), or Beyond Normandy, plus
maybe one of the Aleutian campaigns for Down in Flames.